Furniture construction



Feb. 2 1926. 1,571,302

J. E. RILLING FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 19, 1923 f/ fi INVENTOR. I

A TTORNEYS Patented Feb. 2, 1926.

JOHN E. BILLING, OF MIL'WAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed November 19, 1923. Serial No. 675,618.

I! '0 all idiom may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN E. BILLING, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Furniture Construction, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

This invention relates to furniture constructions and more particularly to a bottom construction for chairs, couches, davenports, and the like, and has for one of its objects to provide a construction of this character which will be simple, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture andmore efficient in use than those which have been heretofore proposed.

In furniture of this character, it has heretofore been customary to provide a wooden or other frame of substantially rectangular form, across the bottom of which has been stretched and secured a plurality of strips of fibrous webbing, which strips serve as supports for the coiled or other springs of the furniture seats. These said springs .are customarily secured to the said webbing by means of cords or threads passed through the webbing and around portions of the springs whereby the latter are prevented from becoming displaced relative to the strips of webbing.

This construction is open to the objection that after a comparatively short period of use the webbing deteriorates and breaks, or the threads or cords securing the strips to the said webbing break, or both, or the tacks break or pull out, thus permitting the strips and the chair seat to sag and become very unsightly.

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide a bottom spring supporting construction for chalrs, couches, davenports and the like in which the fibrous webbing, commonly employed, is supplanted by metallic strips, to which the springs may be secured by suitable metallic connections, such for example as wire, to the end that the breaking of the webbing and consequent sagging of the springs and seats may be obviated.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a bottom construction comprising a plurality of crossed interwoven metallic strips, certain of which may extend beyond the edges of the frame adjacent the corners thereof, and be bent upwardly and secured to the outer faces of said frame, thereby greatly strengthening the weakest parts of the construction.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an additional bracing and re inforcing member for the corners of the frame, which member is secured and acts in conjunction with the upturnerd ends of the edge strips just mentioned.

With the above and other objects in View, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, more fully hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views;

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic inverted plan view of a couch or davenport frame provided with an interwoven metallic spring support constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front elevational View of the parts shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary end elevational view of the parts shown in Figs. 1 and 2; and,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing more in detail the corner construction.

Referring more particularly to the said drawings the numeral 5 indicates generally a frame for a couch or davenport, which comprises the front and back horizontally extending members 6 and 7, and the end members, 8 and 9. The front corners of the frame at the meeting points of the members 6, 8 and 9, include the usual uprights or corner posts 10, and in like manner the back corners at the meeting points of the members 7, 8 and 9 include the uprights or corner posts 11, which latter may extend downwardly, as clearly indicated in Fig. 3, to constitute rear legs or supports for the piece of furniture. Separate legs or supports 12, may be fastened to the front corners and, if desired, intermediate the said corners to support the forward portion of the piece of furniture.

The spring supporting bottom construction constituting the present invention, comprises a plurality of longitudinally extending metallic strips 13 and a plurality of transversely extending metallic strips 14, which strips are preferably interwoven sub stantially as indicated. The ends of the said strips may be fastened to the under surfaces of the frame members 6, 7', 8 and 9 by fastening members 15, as is likewise clearly indicated in Figs. 1 and i. I

The ends of the edge strips extending in each direction may extend beyond the edges of the frame members, 6, 7, 8 and 9 and be turned upwardly as indicated at 17 and 18 and be secured to the outer faces of the said frame members by suitable fastenings 19. These upturned ends which are thus secured to the vertical faces of the frame members, serve to greatly strengthen the corner portions of the bottom webbing, which heretofore have been a weak point in bottom con structions, inasmuch as the downward thrust thereon is taken largely by the said upturned portions.

In order to further strengthen the corner construction both of the bottom webbing and of the frame itself, additional angular strip members 20may be secured to the extreme ends of the upturned portions, 17 and 18, and may likewise'be secured to the frame members as by the fastenings 21. This construction, as will be readily apparent, serves to greatly reinforce the corner portions of the frame itself.

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides a metallic bottom construction for chairs comprising a plurality of interwoven metallic strips, to which the usual coiledor-other springs may be secured by suitable metallic fastenings in a manner similar to that customarily employed in connection with the fibrous Webbing strips here tofore used, which metal construction will offer obvious advantages over the fibrous webbing. If desired the strip may be riveted or spot welded together at the crossing parts, as indicated by the numeral 22.

Furthermore the corners of the construction are so arranged as to greatly reinforce both the bottom spring support, as well as the frame itself.

It will be obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction as well as the arrangements of parts Without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore it is not wished to be' limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a furniture construction the combination with the bottom frame and leg joints thereof, of anon-yieldable seat foundation and reinforcing structure comprising a pluralty of interwoven metallic strips secured to the said frame, certain of said strips being extended and having their ends bent and secured to the sides of said frame, and metallic reinforcing means spanning the leg joints and secured to the bent ends of said extended strips.

2. In a furniture construction the combination with the bottom frame and leg joints thereof, of a non -yieldable seat foundation and reinforcing means comprising, a plural ity of interwoven metallic strips secured to the said frame, certain of said strips being extended and having their ends bent and secured to the sides of said frame, and a reinforcing means for each corner of saidframe, each of said reinforcing means constitutinga metallic band bent around the corner of the frame, spanning the leg joints thereon, and having its ends secured to the ends of those strips which are extended and secured to the sides of the frame. I

3. In a furniture construction the combi-' nation with the bottom frame and leg joints thereof, of a rigid seat foundation andreinforcing structure, comprising a plurality of nonyieldable metallic strips secured to the said frame and metallic reinforcing means spanning said leg joints and secured to certain of said strips.

4. In a furniture construction of the class described, a frame having a leg joined to each of its corners; a spring supporting bottom comprising a plurality of crossed interwoven metallic strips sec'u'red thereto, the edge strips in each direction extending beyond the edges of said frame adjacent the corners thereof, and bent and secured'to' the faces of said frame to constitute reinforcements for said corners; and an additional metallic strip secured to the bent ends of said edge strips and to said frame, and spanning the said leg joints for reinforcing the same.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signa-' ture. I

JOHN E. BILLING. 

